Pandora's Box
by jamurano
Summary: "Enough!" Bunnymund shouted out. Immediately the room was quiet once more. "We need to have a proper ceremony for Sandy... It's only right" "Who's going to tell her?" Toothy asked through her sobs. Bunny and North looked over at Toothy before looking away. Jack turned to face the Guardians."What do you mean by 'her? Who's 'her?"
1. The Beginning

**A/N: Hey ****everyone****! I apologize for this story being the movie verbatim, but it is very important to the story. If you stick it through until the end of at least this chapter, you will see that I****t**** ends differently. This story will ****differ****from ****the movie, I promise. I do not own the ****movie, books ****or characters, I only own this story and my characters.**

**I ****added a scene to this chapter, so please re-read. **

The Beginning

"Left central incisor, knocked out in a freak sledding accident. I wonder how that could have happened, Jack?" Toothiana whispered with a laugh as she twirled a quarter in between her delicate fingers and placed it under Jamie's sleeping head. Jack chuckled as he looked at the colored drawing of Jamie sledding; remembering how fun it had been. He then turned to smile at Toothy.

"Kids, huh?" Toothy glanced at Jack before looking back at the sleeping boy. She hovered over Jamie, sighed sadly and crossed her arms.

"This was always the part I liked most - seeing the kids." A slight frown crossed her face as she hugged herself tighter, "Why did I ever stop doing this?" Toothy was disappointed in how she had drifted away from the kids. They mean so much to her, and yet, she had let herself get so caught up in the rush of her job.

"It's a little different up close, huh?" Toothiana smiled sadly at Jack and approached him. Her tiny hand rested on his shoulder, her head tilted to the side.

"Thanks for being here, Jack. I wish I had known about your memory, I could've helped you." Jack looked down briefly concealing how much his missing memories actually upset him. He looked back up at Toothy and smiled, knowing that she cared about him meant a lot; more than she would ever know.

"Yeah, well, look let's just get you taken care of. Then it's Pitch's turn, huh?" The moment they shared was brief. Jack caught himself wishing that he had met the Guardians before all this had happened. Maybe they would have been better friends?

"Here you are!" North came barging in through the open window with a large bag, followed closely by Sandy and Baby Tooth. Toothy immediately shushed North and pointed towards Jamie's sleeping form. North continued talking in a loud whisper, "Oh, what gives slowpokes!? How you feeling, Toothy?"

Tooth lit up immediately, her excitement bursting through her. "Believed in!" Her relief and joy was contagious as the others also smiled and felt a small weight fall off their shoulders.

"Haha! That's what I want to hear." North was happy to see his good friend out of despair once more.

Bunnymund's magic underground portal appeared in the middle of the bedroom floor. He pulled himself out of the ground hoisting his bag of teeth with him. Noticing that everyone was already there he scowled.

"Oh I see how it is... All working together to make sure the rabbit gets last place." Bunny grumbled but was quickly shushed by the others. Bewildered by this, bunny threw his hands up out of surrender.

"You think I need help to beat a bunny? Check it out, Peter Cottontail." Jack mocked as he stepped towards Bunny shaking his bag in front of him as if to prove his point. Bunny was unimpressed by Jack's bag, as it was quite a bit smaller than his own bag full of teeth.

"You think _that's_ a bag of choppers?"Bunnymund retorted as he held his bag out to Jack with pride, "Now, _that's_ a bag of choppers." He was glad to know that he had collected more teeth than Jack as was apparent with his confident stance.

"Gentlemen! Gentlemen! This is about Tooth. It's not a competition! But if it was -" North plopped the massive bag, he was holding, full of teeth onto the floor. "I win. YEEEEEHAAAHH!" He then proceeded to do a Russian victory dance. North had always loved games and loved them more when he won. So caught up in his excitement, they forgot that they needed to be quiet.

Suddenly a light was shining brightly on North. He immediately stopped dancing and backed away from it, "oh no..." were the only words that escaped his lips. Everyone seemed to stop breathing as they realized that Jamie, the boy who was asleep in the bed, was now very much awake and was holding a flashlight. Jamie's eyes widened and his mouth fell open as he realized just who was prancing around in his room.

"Santa Claus?" He asked, wondering if perhaps he was still dreaming, "The Easter Bunny?...Sandman..." He called off their worldly names as he shined the light into each of their faces. The Guardians all flinched a little at being caught.

Jamie gasped with excitement as he moved the light to the next person, "The Tooth Fairy! I knew you'd come!" He jumped a little on his bed from pure excitement; happiness plainly visible on his face.

"Surprise! We came!" Toothy giggled at the boys enthusiasm.

"He can see us?" He asked without realizing that the question had escaped his lips. A glimmer of hope rose into him so quickly that he felt dizzy. Jamie still amazed, moved the light over the Guardians to see each in turn.

"Most of us." Bunny mumbled quietly. Those words cut Jack like a knife as his new found hopes were crushed. How was it that Jamie could see the Guardians and not him? He was around him more, so why was it that he was the only one left unseen? He averted his gaze to the ground shielding his disappointment from the others.

"Shhh! You guys, he's still awake." Toothy stated bringing everyone back into the current situation. No one made a move to do anything. They had never had to deal with this situation before.

"Sandy! Knock him out!" Bunny urged. Sandy nodded as if he understood exactly what Bunnymund had meant, but as he approached Jamie he punched his own hand to show that he was going to literally knock him out.

"Huh?" Jamie asked confused. Bunny promptly stopped Sandy saying, "With the Dreamsand, ya gumbies."

Immediately everyone froze. Jamie's dog was awake and growling at the Pooka. Even though he had tried to play it off cool, everyone could feel how tense and fearful Bunnymund had become.

"No, stop that's the Easter Bunny. What are you doing, Abbey? Down!" Jamie's cries for the dog fell on deaf ears. No one was sure of what to do, so they stayed still so as to not startle the dog.

"Alright, nobody panic." Bunny warned while slowly putting his bag of teeth on the ground. He kept a watchful eye on the purebred.

"But that's a, um, that's a greyhound. Do you know what greyhounds _do_ to rabbits?" Jack asked highly amused at the whole thing. Seeing his rival so uneasy made Jack smile smugly. He scanned the room fleetingly to find something to startle the dog into attacking; an alarm clock, perfect.

"I think it's a pretty safe bet, he's never met a rabbit like me -" Bunnymund asserted as Sandy started forming his Dreamsand into a small softball size, knowing that it would soon be needed. Jack on the other hand, moved his staff stealthily over to the clock. "Six foot one, nerves of steel, master of tai-chi and the ancient art of-" Bunny was interrupted by Jack hitting the alarm clock on the nightstand triggering it.

"Crikey." Bunny was off like a shot, the greyhound right on his tail, running laps in the small room and the dog barking like crazy. Panic was everywhere, Guardians moved out of the way and Sandman was trying his best to aim the Dreamsand at the dog.

"Stop! Sit!" Jamie pleaded with Abbey, horrified that his dog was chasing the Easter Bunny and would potentially harm him, "Down girl, down!" He begged again.

Toothy was trying her best to silence the alarm clock, hoping that would calm the dog down; Jack on the other hand was barley containing his laughter as he watched.

"Sandy, Sandy!" North shouted out. The greyhound ran past North and knocked him backwards. "Ah!" Just as Sandy was prepared to throw the Dreamsand the dog ran into him resulting in the sand flying out of his hands. It bounced around the room, reflecting off of the different surfaces.

The Dreamsand sped towards North, however he ducked before it could hit him. Unluckily the sand smacked Toothy in the face making it explode into golden dust. Tooth and Baby Tooth both fell to the ground asleep with little teeth floating above their heads. Dreamsand continued flying through the air, and proceeded to hit Bunny; a carrot now floating above his head. It also hit Abbey, dog bones floated above her.

"Candy canes..." North drowsily muttered, touching the golden treats, as the sand had also hit him. He teetered for a moment before collapsing at the end of Jamie's bed; launching Jamie through the air. The boy flailed a bit before fortunately landing into Sandy's arms. Before Jamie could move away though, Sandy nodded his head, casting Dreamsand on Jamie's face which caused the boy to doze off.

"Whoops..." Jack muttered entertained. Guardians were sleeping around the room, where moments before had been chaos. He chuckled as one of the dream carrots started twirling and dancing with a dream candy cane. "Oh, I really wish I had a camera right now." Sandy carefully placed the young boy back into his bed before giving Jack a jokingly reprimanding look.

Sandy's eyes widened; behind Jack was a Nightmare. Jack swiftly turned, spotting it before it flew off. Without hesitation, he jumped after the Nightmare through the window. "Sandy, c'mon! We can find Pitch." He called after himself. Sandy hesitated, wondering what to do about the others who were all still asleep, shrugged, then followed.

Soon after Jack and Sandy had left the room, little Sophie toddled in. She giggled pleased to see the Guardians slumbering. She padded over to North and tugged on his coat, trying to lift herself up. A soft sound caught her attention; a very pretty snow globe fell from his pocket. It was ornate and very shiny.

"Pretty!" Sophie cooed picking it up. It truly was the most amazing thing that she had ever seen. Spotting the Easter Bunny on the ground, she smiled. "Bunny! Hop! Hop! Hop!" She was awed to see that the shapes in the snow globe had changed to form Easter eggs.

So enthralled with all the colors in it, she started walking towards the door, not paying attention to where she was stepping she tripped over her dog, just like she had earlier that day. The snow globe smashed into the wall; the portal to the Warren now open.

"Ow!" Sophie whined, but quickly got up when she noticed the glowing swirling portal. A light breeze came from it making her giggle; she proceeded to walk into the portal, which closed afterwards.

"Whuh-huh...?" North muttered mid-snore. He looked briefly around in a daze trying to remember what he was supposed to be doing.

Two nightmares zigzagged along the rooftops trying to escape from their pursuers. Jack loved the chase, he got a kick out of how thrilling it was. Not far behind was Sandy riding along a streak of Dreamsand, also having fun.

"Wahoo!" Jack yelled out excited,"Haha! Yes!"

The Nightmares split off, one going straight through a factory building window. Sandy easily did the same, never losing sight of the Nightmare. The other one rushed up over the buildings roof to evade Jack, who flung himself up over the roof after it, only a little behind the black sand creature.

"Waaahahoooo!" Jack shouted. Through the windows below, flashes of gold could be seen as Sandy battled the Nightmare out through the other side of the building.

The Nightmare and Jack zoomed away from the house just as Sandy and the first Nightmare blasted out of the window, Sandy wrestled with it and placed his hand on it's neck making it explode into golden Dreamsand, which he transformed into a sting ray and proceeded to ride on it.

Jack, using the wind to fly through town, was on the heels of his Nightmare. It turned sharply down an alleyway and Jack was quick to follow. The Nightmare then veered up the wall of the alley and onto a rooftop. Before it could disappear from Jacks view, he whipped a blast of ice from his staff and managed to hit it.

"HAAAH! I got it!" Jack declared triumphantly; prodding the frozen Nightmare with his staff. He was fascinated by how it looked as he called over his shoulder, "Sandy! Sandy, did you see that?! Look at this thing!" His excitement was childish but endearing.

Pitch silently walked out from the shadows behind the air vent. "Frost?" He queried. Pitch didn't understand why Jack was here. Why did any of what he was doing affect him? Jack, taken by surprise, blasted a wave of frost across the rooftop, which Pitch easily dodged, reappearing behind Jack on the adjoining rooftop. He peered down at Jack.

"You know, for a 'neutral party' you spend an awful lot of time with those weirdos." Pitch remarked perplexed by Jack helping the Guardians, "This isn't your fight, Jack."

"You made it my fight when you stole those teeth." Jack seethed with anger. He was ready to fight, his staff pointed directly at the enemy. Pitch had been lucky once, but he wasn't going to miss this time. Pitch regarded Jack curiously.

"Teeth? Why do you care about the teeth?" Before he could get his answer, Pitch descried some movement from the corner of his eye. He turned and beheld that Sandy had appeared, frightened, Pitch sidestepped away. He had always been intimidated by Sandman, after all, he was the strongest out of all the Guardians and the only one that posed an actual threat.

"Now this is who I'm looking for-" Before Pitch could finish his sentence, Sandy attacked with his whip made out of sand; Pitch rapidly ducked and dodged in order to not get hit. He almost fell over, but regained his footing.

Pitch dispersed a stream of Nightmare Sand, and created a gigantic scythe. He retaliated with a low sweep of the sharp weapon; Jack, on his way to lend a hand, leapt to the lower building to avoid injury, meanwhile Sandy was driven back towards the ledge.

Sandy seized Pitch with his Dreamsand whip and hauled him off his feet into the air, and slammed him repeatedly against the tops of the buildings until finally throwing him off the rooftop into the streets below.

Pitch ricocheted off the top of a car causing the alarm to sound, then landed on the empty road. Sandy dusted his hands off and calmly stepped off the rooftop.

"Remind me not to get on your bad side." Jack muttered astonished. Sandman smiled briefly back at Jack before floating down to where Pitch was.

Pitch shook off the crash and tried to back away as Sandy approached him, Jack following; Pitch cowered on the ground in terror.

"Okay, easy! You can't blame me for trying, Sandy. You don't know what it's like to be weak and hated. It was stupid of me to mess with your dreams. So I'll tell you what-" He began, pleading to Sandy, but his tone changed as he stood up, "You can have `em back!" Pitch finished with a dark look on his face, his eyes burning with hatred. Before Jack and Sandy could react, a Nightmare shot up through a storm drain and several other Nightmares gathered in the streets around them.

The two of them looked around as hundreds of the sand-made horses descended from the surrounding rooftops to encircle them, getting closer. This didn't look good. Jack, anxious, looked to Sandy and muttered, "You take the ones on the left, I'll take the ones on the right?" Sandy shrugged s he was also unsure of what to do; they were horribly out numbered.

Pitch rose up from off the ground as Onyx, his favorite Nightmare, took shape underneath him. Pitch grabbed onto Onyx's reins as it snorted and snarled. He leaned forward and wiggled his fingers as if intimidating a small child. "Boo!" A thin smile on Pitch's face gave him appear menacing.

The massive army of Nightmares began to charge. Jack and Sandy both readied their weapons expecting the worst.

The sound of bells and reindeer echoed in the distance. North's sleigh burst through the clouds. Jack, Sandy and Pitch looked up into the sky as it circled overhead. The sleigh turned toward Pitch flying only a few feet over his head; he turned as it passed over him annoyed that the Guardians were interfering.

North was asleep at the wheel from the Dreamsand earlier, with Bunny and Toothy also in the sleigh. It clipped one of its runners as it flew over City Hall, jolting North to attention, "Ah!". The other two also awoke with a start from being jostled.

Still battling Nightmares, Sandy propelled himself and Jack into the air with his Dreamsand and launched Jack away from the Nightmares. Jack quickly oriented himself and destroyed an oncoming Nightmare with his staff.

Toothy rushed off the side of the sleigh to Jack and Sandy to help in anyway she could. Jack, had destroyed a few more Nightmares with his staff, and looked up. Toothy flew into view through the swarm of Nightmares, she sliced them apart with her thin wings, causing them to explode into black sand.

Pitch signaled his horses and leapt into the air, leading another wave of Nightmares after the Guardians from above. They were astounded by the sheer quantity of the black sand horses.

Bunny jumped out of the sleigh and landed on a nearby roof. He aggressively hurled his boomerang, disintegrating every Nightmare in its path. Bunny caught the returning boomerang, hopped off the roof, and grabbed the runners of the sleigh as it passed by. North stood, drawing both his scimitars, and diced the oncoming Nightmares to bits as they attacked.

"Ha. Ha. Ha. Come on!" He shouted with his powerful voice. Jack headed back to the sleigh by dodging two Nightmares, they crashed into each other. As he continued his descent, Jack was blind sided by another Nightmare, knocking the staff from his hands. For a moment, he was in a state of panic as Jack found himself in free fall. He finally managed to grab onto the staff, control his descent, and land on the sleigh as it flew by.

"You might want to duck." Bunny suggested coolly. Jack crouched as a Nightmare reared up behind him, but one of Bunny's boomerangs blasted through it and zipped back to his awaiting paw. He smirked at Jacks amazment.

Sandy high up in the clouds, did his best to contain the mass of Nightmares that were swirling around him. Pitch rose from behind the group of Nightmares. He stretched his arm behind him as an arrow of Nightmare Sand formed and drew back ready to fire.

Jack and the Guardians watched as more of the dark horses sped away to join their herd. Sandy looked overwhelmed by the onslaught. "We gotta help Sandy!" Jack urged.

"Hyah!" North shouted and cracked the reigns, turned the sleigh, and sped towards the swirling cloud of yellow and black sand.

Pitch took aim and released the arrow. It flew through the air and into Sandy's back, exploding on impact. The Guardians looked on, horrified.

"Noooo!" Jack leapt ahead of the sleigh and flew toward Sandy.

"Jack!" North shouted after him. Sandy shuddered as the fear began to spread through his body from the black sand. He slowly turned, facing his attacker. Pitch laughed as he and Sandy locked eyes.

"Don't fight the fear, little man." Pitch sneered. The Guardians continued to make their way to Sandy, but Nightmares began to collide with the sleigh, slowing their progress.

"Hurry, hurry!" Implored North, urging Jack on.

Pitch relished this moment of triumph, "I'd say sweet dreams, but there aren't any left." Sandy, his eyes filled with terror, fell to his knees as the darkness continued to spread. Jack pressed on, trying to reach Sandy as fast as he could.

Sandyman stood up, accepting his fate, and closed his eyes as he and his Dreamsand cloud were consumed by the writhing blackness of the Nightmare sand.

"Sandy..." North muttered softly, stunned. Shocked, Jack clenched his staff as he flew toward Pitch preparing to fight.

"No...NOOOOOO!" Screamed Jack in agony and anger. Sandy was gone. His beautiful Golden Dreamsand, now black, merged with the rest of Pitch's Nightmare sand.

Pitch was beyond delighted. His plan actually worked! He noticed Jack flying straight to him, glowing energy emanating from Jack's staff. Pitch raised his hands and sent a massive wave of Nightmares towards Jack.

Jack realized that he was in over his head as the charging Nightmares began to overtake him. He was engulfed by Nightmares and there was nothing but silence. Pitch looked on with a smile, pleased with himself, until a bolt of lightning erupted from within the writhing black mass.

A gust of wind blew past Pitch, followed by a massive wave of frost that rocketed up the stream of Nightmare sand toward him, culminating in an explosion of ice and snow.

"AAAHH!" Pitch's scream could still be heard as he plummeted far off. Jack, unconscious, began falling back to Earth.

"Jack!" North shouted with panic for his friend. Toothy quickly rescued him and set him down in the sleigh. Everyone was filled with relief that Jack was now safe, though they were still trying to process what they had just witnessed.

"Jack, how did you do that?" Toothy asked tentatively. As Jack regained consciousness, Toothy's question processed through his foggy head.

"I, I didn't know I could." He stuttered out.

Pitch pulled himself laboriously from the mud and weeds amongst the trees where he had crash-landed, oddly, he was delighted. He looked up to see a bright glow; North's snow globe portal. The sleigh zoomed into it and vanished. Pitch shook the frost from his arms as scores of Nightmares swarmed behind him, regrouping after the blast.

"Finally! Someone who knows how to have a little _fun_!" Pitch chuckled darkly as he stood there.

Once the Guardians had returned to North's Palace, there was only silence within the small group. Around them was the chaos of the Yetis building toys, testing them out, and chatting. Elves were trying their best to help make their own toys, though they were just harming one another more than anything.

The guardians made their way inside; hurt, anger, and confusion possessed them. Bunnymund exploded with anger and kicked a ball that was near him, it flew into a large stack of robot toys; the yeti that was repainting them red groaned in frustration.

"What were you thinking, Jack? Trying to take on Pitch without us." Bunny growled out, his anger clearly directed towards the winter sprite.

"Keep it together Bunny." North warned.

"Keep it together?!" He fumed. The activities all around them slowed to a stop to watch. "Sandy's gone, he's _gone!" _North sighed sadly. He took his hat from his head and rubbed his temples. At Bunnymunds words the audience gasped.

"I know that..." North muttered.

"Pitch is picking us off one by one and you want me to keep it together?" Bunny seethed. Toothy flew towards the guardians, now deciding to voice her opinion.

"He's right... We're losing kids by the minute." Her voice wavered with choked down tears, "Pitch's plan is actually working..." North placed his hat back on his head and approached the other three, stopping by Jack. Jack was glaring the Pooka down.

"Yes, but _now_ we have something he wasn't planning on." North stated confidently and placed a comforting hand on Jack's shoulder. The young boy really appreciated North's words as he stood up from crouching on the ground.

"Do you have any idea _how_ you might have done that?" Toothy asked Jack again referring to that frost explosion earlier. The other Guardians looked towards Jack to see what his answer would be.

"I don't know..." Jack muttered. He honestly didn't know, nothing like this had ever happened before.

"Bonzer! He doesn't even _know_ what he did!" Bunnymund hollered, he couldn't believe his ears. This guy was _no_ Guardian. They all looked over to Bunny and frowned.

"What he did _was save_ us." Toothy fought back. She flew right into Bunny's face and glared at him as if asking him to say that Jack didn't save them.

"Not _all_ of us!" He shouted back. Toothy was surprised at the amount of anger thrown towards her and backed off. North and Jack were just as surprised with Bunny's attitude that all they could do was gape. The yetis and elves gasped. "Not all of us..." He muttered again looking away from the eyes glued to him.

"Bunny, ENOUGH!" North commanded. He had heard enough and was sick of it. He rubbed the sides of his nose in frustration and sighed. "Now, we are all upset..."

"But we can't turn on one another." North continued as he approached Bunnymund and Toothiana. Tooth turned to look at Bunny.

"Sandy wouldn't want that." She agreed solemnly. Bunny realized what he had done and looked down in mild disappointment in himself.

"No, of course not..." He finally conceded.

"Sandy would want us to go on." Toothy stated with conviction and smiled reassuringly at the defeated Bunny.

"To fight." North finished. They knew that they would have to continue on without Sandy. Bunny nodded his understanding.

"To defeat Pitch." Bunny continued as Jack approached the group.

"To protect the children." At Jack's words, the Guardians felt a bit better, though tension still hung heavily in the air. North glanced around at the curious and confused faces of the yetis and elves. Realizing they were waiting to be clued in, he moved through the crowd and stepped onto a podium.

"It brings me great sorrow to announce that our dear friend, Sanderson Mansnoozie, was killed in battle." North stated in a clear and controlled voice. The yetis and elves gasped in horror and shock; so it _was_ true after all. A quiet murmur filled the air as they all wondered what would soon happen to them.

Now that Sandy was gone, the Nightmares would run rampant and the fear would spread. Their voices proceeded to become louder and louder as their questions were fueled with more panic. It was almost a roar now as the other Guardians and Jack stepped up to stand with North. Toothiana was in hysterical tears again and Jack had his hood up to hide his self hatred at allowing Sandy to die.

"Enough!" Bunnymund shouted out. Immediately the room was quiet once more. "We need to have a proper ceremony for Sandy... It's only right" He muttered.

"Who's going to tell _her_?" Toothy asked through her sobs. Bunny and North looked over at Toothy before looking away. No one wanted to tell _her _about Sandy's death, they couldn't even bear the thought of how _she_ would react.

Intrigued by what they were talking about, or more rather what they weren't talking about, Jack turned to face the Guardians. "What do you mean by 'her'? Who's 'her'?" Jack's question caused them to shuffle uncomfortably. North sighed sadly and finally met Jack's inquisitive gaze.

"Polaris... The North Star." North started slowly as if it hurt him to say. "She is – was Sandy's best friend. They were inseparable; practically family..." He looked down to gather himself up before continuing, "I will go and tell her what has become of Sandy; Jack, you come too." North and Jack made their way back to the sleigh and somberly climbed in and took off.

**A/N: Thank you to those who made it to the end of the chapter. The next chapter will be where it starts to differ from the story more. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed coming up with the concept. Please continue to read and feel free to leave me comments about anything you liked or what ever you feel I could improve on. **

**~Jessica**


	2. Polaris

**A/N: I apologize for taking a long time to finish chapter two. Honestly I was procrastinating, but at least it is up and hopefully you enjoy it. Thank you to everyone who viewed my story and to **_**Poppyflower of Stormclan**_** for being the first to review. ****I put in an addition scene in this one too.**

Polaris

Polaris's Palace was beautiful. The outside was carved from perfect, shimmering crystals in the shape of a Star of David, appearing to be only the North Star to anyone else and was framed by the sparkling night stars. It hovered high above the clouds and was relatively smaller than the other Guardians' realms.

The inside was just as breathtaking; the crystal was a double sided glass so you could see the outside all around you. The whole room had an ethereal glow to it. A large glass globe stood in the middle of the room with lights representing each and every believing child; it sat on a large pedestal made of stars.

Floating above the globe was a young girl not much older than Jack, Jack himself being only 14; she was looking down at the globe upside down and mumbling to herself. Her bright golden eyes stared intently on the flickering lights.

The sleigh landed with a loud thud and echoed around the walls. Startled, Polaris whipped her head around to see North and Jack climbing out of the sleigh and heading towards her. A huge grin grew onto her face as she floated down to the ground and over to them. Her glowing platinum blonde hair trailed behind her, floating, as if under water.

"North! And hello person I don't know! Yay! I don't get very many visitors, except Sandy, but other than that, nobody!" Polaris rambled excitedly at having company, not leaving any room for anyone else to speak. "Who are you?" She asked Jack. Jack was taken aback as he was expecting someone similar to Sandman instead of this energetic girl.

"Jack Frost" He answered slowly, raising his brow at her odd behavior. Polaris's eyes drifted away from him as if she hadn't heard him.

"Reindeer!" She sped off to them and giggled as she grabbed each of their heads one by one, looking them each in the eye. "They're so cute! I usually only see birds fly by." She grabbed onto another reindeer's face and squished it close to hers. She then addressed the reindeer, her lips puckered. "Hello Mr. Reindeer face, did you know that you are a reindeer?" Polaris deepened her voice pretending that the reindeer was talking back to her, "Hi there, Polaris, we did know. Isn't that crazy?" She giggled as the reindeer snorted, shook it's head and backed away from her.

"Why are you guys here anyway? You never told me. Is it a surprise? Is it my birthday?! Are we having a surprise party?!" She gasped in pure excitement, "Oh wait... I don't even remember when my birthday even was... Oh! Are we going to Never Never Land? It's the second star to the right, straight on till morning. Haven't been there in a while!"

"Polaris, calm down." North instructed solemnly. Seeing his serious expression, she floated down to the ground and conjured every bit of her focus to hear what he had to say. Her hair drifted down around her, swirling slowly in a non-existent current. North swallowed heavily.

"It's Sandy..." He started with a steady voice.

"Why, what about Sandy?" Polaris asked becoming defensive and confused.

"He... has been killed."

Stunned silence filled the palace as she stared past them into nothingness. Her mouth moved to words she couldn't voice; anger took over her.

"What... What are you talking about?" She choked out, her voice rising a bit shrilly. "Y-you're lying! You have to be lying! I just saw Sandy a couple of days ago." Polaris' voice continued to crack as she fell into hysterics.

Surely they were telling a horrible lie, and Sandy would come waltzing through her palace door any moment now. They would talk, joke around, and she would mold his hair into a sand castle and he would smooth it out like they always did.

Her voice slowly became less and less distinguishable as she fought with her tears racking her body. One look into North's and Jack's face and she knew that they were telling the truth. She was all alone now and consumed by grief she crumpled to the floor.

Burning candles lined the perimeter of Sandy's stone emblem; a somber ceremony now taking place at the North Pole to mark the passing of Sanderson Mansnoozie.

Toothiana placed down a flickering candle and then stood shoulder to shoulder with North, Bunny, and Polaris. She reached her tiny hand out to North, who took it in his own large one. Toothy proceeded to hold her other hand out for Bunnymund as well; the three held hands in silence. North glanced over to Polaris to the right of him and gently placed his hand on her back in a comforting manner. Polaris, barely even noticed the slight warmth though, as her body was filled with coldness. Her golden orbs held no usual brightness and tears streamed down her face. Polaris jumped with surprise when a big warm hand enveloped her own small cold one. She trailed up to North's sympathetic eyes. He squeezed her hand gently to let her know that they were all there for her. A half-hearted smile flittered briefly across her face; she looked back down to the mosaic of Sandy with a shaky breath. The ringing of solemn bells could be heard echoing throughout the chamber, as the elves and yetis rang bells, the sound both beautiful and melancholy.

The next morning North sat Polaris down and explained what had been going on with the lights and Pitch. He told her of how Manny had chosen Jack to be a Guardian and how he had refused. And how Sandy had been killed by Pitch. Soon enough Polaris understood exactly what had happened up to this point and agreed to help the Guardians in any way she could. North patted her shoulder lightly and then went to go find Jack.

Polaris sat by herself, her knees up, staring blankly into space, thinking about what North had told her, but mostly about Sandy. She didn't want to be here anymore; it hurt far too much.

Toothiana was chatting quietly to Bunnymund, glancing at Polaris occasionally. Finally she glided over to Polaris and sat next to her; saying nothing as she pulled Polaris into a comforting embrace.

Polaris lost it and cried again into Toothiana's beautifully colorful and soft feathers. "I don't understand... How could he die? Aren't we supposed to be immortal?" Polaris asked through her sobs, "Why, why would Manny allow something like this to happen?" Her tear-filled eyes locked onto Toothy's own purple ones.

Tooth didn't know how to answer that question and looking into the hollow eyes of Polaris was unbearable, so she glanced over to the globe. A sharp intake of breath shook her as she noticed that the lights were rapidly going out. Toothy stood instantly and flew over to the globe; followed soon after by the other Guardians.

"Look how fast they're going out." Toothiana whispered horrified. The air was heavy with fear. What else could they do? They were losing and they wouldn't be able to fight much longer.

"I've never seen this many lights go out all at once before." Polaris uttered, "Not since the Dark Ages."

"It's fear. He's tipped the balance." Jack affirmed as he glided up the globe. He looked at the lights going out, then back to the Guardians. Wondering, himself, what they could do now.

"Hey, buck up ya sad-sacks. Come on! We can still turn this around!" Bunny commenced "Easter is tomorrow and I need your help. I say we pull out all the stops and we get those little lights flickering again!" He gestured to the globe as he finished.

A massive wooden door swung open with an echoing thud. North lead Jack and the Guardians through the doorway, into an elevator, and began to make their way through his factory.

"Bunny is right." North started, "As much as it pains me to say, Old Friend, this time Easter _is_ more important than Christmas!" Bunny was shocked at hearing those words come from North's own mouth.

"Hey! Did everyone hear that?!" He shouted with excitement as they continued to make their way down the busy hallway.

"We must hurry to the Warren. Everyone, to the sleigh!" North urged them on, but Bunnymund quickly halted them.

"Oh no, mate. My Warren, my rules. Buckle up." He grinned, sarcasm dripping from his words as he tapped his foot twice. A portal opened beneath them causing everyone, including an elf and a couple of yetis, to fall in.

"Shostakovich!" North yelped as he and the rest of the Guardians plummeted down into the tunnel.

Jack, Bunny and Toothy arrived gracefully in the warren's antechamber, while North, Polaris and the yetis came to a crashing halt. Polaris's hair flopped over her head covering her face momentarily. She hastily tossed it back over her head, spitting a few stray stands gracelessly out of her mouth.

"That was so much fun!" She twirled around in excitement forgetting about her earlier depression.

"'Buckle up.' Is very funny." North chuckled at the irony of Bunnymund using the same expression he had when they used his sleigh to get to Tooth's Palace. He stood and brushed himself off.

"Welcome to the Warren-" Bunny stood straight before them when suddenly, something caught his attention. He turned, his ears perked up and his nose sniffed the air, "Something's up."

A faint scream began to echo from within the depths of one of Bunny's tunnels. Tiny eggs scuttled out from the underground passage. Bunny grabbed his boomerang, North drew his swords, Jack readied his staff, and Polaris pulled out her sling, loaded a shooting star and began twirling them with cyclonic force as the sounds of booming footsteps, screams, and the rustling of foliage grew louder.

Bunny yelled as he began to charge toward the tunnel. At his side were the Guardians, yetis, and sentinel eggs all bellowing their loudest battle cries until... Sophie dashed out from the tunnel with an armful of squirming eggs. All momentum came to an abrupt halt.

"Sophie?" Jack inquired. They all immediately withdrew their weapons, mildly embarrassed. How could _they_ make the mistake of _Sophie_ being a Nightmare?

"Elf, elf, elf!" Sophie giggled and ran after the elf, dropping the eggs. The Guardians watched as Sophie chased the elf and eggs around. Polaris giggled to herself as she floated after Sophie; just as excited.

"What is SHE doing HERE!?" Bunny demanded an answer. North looked down at his coat pocket – oops. North's face reddened from embarrassment as he realized what must have happened.

"Ah, snow globe." He shrugged, what else could they do? She was already there. Everyone but Polaris and Jack shuffled restlessly as they hadn't dealt with children for a long long time.

Bunny growled in frustration, "Crikey! Somebody do something!" Jack smirked knowing that Bunny was exasperated; Bunnymund glared him down.

"Don't look at me, I'm invisible, remember?" Jack's grin grew. Sophie giggled as she dragged the elf by the bell atop its uniform.

Toothy flew forward, confident in her abilities to gain control over the situation. "Don't worry, Bunny. I bet she's a fairy fan." She reassured as she floated in front of Sophie, "It's okay little one."

"Pretty!" Sophie's awestruck face was adorable. The Guardians couldn't help but smile at how cute she was. Toothy was flattered at the small girls compliment.

"Awww!" She cooed with delight. "You know what, I got something for you. Here it is." She opened her hand to show the toddler some teeth, "Look at all the pretty teeth with little blood and gum on them." Sophie's face dropped in horror as she looked from the teeth to Toothiana, then she ran away screaming.

"Blood and gums? When was the last time you guys actually hung out with kids?" Jack couldn't help but laugh. Polaris shrugged her shoulders, she honestly couldn't remember the last time she had been around children... Maybe when she was still alive?

Meanwhile, Sophie was running around the Warren, exploring and playing. Sophie poked her head into a small tunnel. "Peek-a-boo!" She giggled as the eggs scurried out of the tunnel to get away from her.

"We are very busy bringing joy to children! We don't have time..." North trailed off as he realized what he was saying, "...for children." He finished sheepishly.

Jack walked toward Sophie, forming a snowflake in his hand, then floated it towards her. She tried to grab at it, but Jack flew it to Bunnymund.

"If one little kid can ruin Easter, then...we're in worse shape than I thought." Jack expressed as he lightly landed the snowflake which twinkled on Bunny's nose. His concern seemingly disappeared as Jack's magic took affect.

Sophie and Bunnymund watched happily as a flower opened to reveal an egg. The egg stood up wobbly on its spindly little legs."You wanna paint some eggs? Yeah?" Bunny asked leading Sophie to where the eggs would be painted. She agreed to enthusiastically. "Come on then!" His joy plainly apparent.

Thousands of unpainted eggs streamed down the side of a massive moss covered stone spire towards a green meadow. North and Jack stood in the midst of it all, slack-jawed, as the eggs rushed towards them. Polaris rode on top of them giggling, she shouted,"Onward to glory!"

"Rimsky Korsakov! That's a lot of eggs." North stated dumbfounded. Jack looked over the hoards of eggs and gulped.

"Uh, how much time do we have?" He muttered.

Bunny ignored their concerns as he was having too much fun. He leapt into a large green meadow with Sophie clinging to his back, smiling, as he lead a huge mass of eggs down a wide path. When he passed, flowers bloomed on either side in his wake. The jostled flowers blasted the passing eggs with color as they went.

"Alright troops, it's time to push back. That means eggs everywhere!" Bunny was really getting into it now. North looked out over the eggs as they were sorted through the sorting stones. Polaris flew over to Sophie and placed her gently on top of the eggs as well. They rode on their backs and were carried by the eggs through the stones. Sophie giggled when North waved at her as they passed by.

"Heaps of you in every high-rise, farm house and trailer park!" Bunny continued. Baby Tooth flew across the meadow to a multicolored stream off in the distance, "In tennis shoes and cereal bowls!"

Baby Tooth joined the elf, who stood alongside an egg at the ledge of the multicolored stream. The elf pushed the egg in, celebrating with a victory dance. He turned just in time to see a stampede of colored eggs come barreling toward him. He was knocked off the ledge and he and the eggs spilled into the multi-colored stream below.

"Oh, there will be bathtubs filled with my beautiful googies!" Bunnymund was exuberant now as the eggs were being painted all around him. They were going to win this! Hope and joy filled him to an almost exploding point. The others all felt the same hope and expectation.

Colored eggs waded through the water, emerging with secondary colors and intricate patterns of all kinds. An unlucky egg veered off and got stuck in a whirlpool. North fished it out of the water and looked at the egg curiously. It now had a spiral pattern on it and its little legs kicked madly trying to get away.

"Okay, that's a little strange." North stated, weirded out. He shifted his gaze to Bunny who was surrounded by cute little eggs and butterflies.

"Naw, mate-" Bunny grinned, "That's adorable."

North set the egg down and let it rejoin the herd just as the now technicolored elf climbed out of the stream. Polaris watched the elf with fascination. The colors he turned into from just the water got her thinking. An idea popped into her head when she noticed Bunny sitting in front of the colorful stream. She slowly tiptoed in midair towards Bunny and shushed North who was standing on the other side.

Sophie lead a parade of eggs while Bunny jumped to an adjacent rock and sat up to address the eggs as they marched in stride. "There will be springtime on every continent and I'm bringing hope with me!" Bunny shouted out. Meanwhile, Jack rode atop a group of sentinel eggs that were marching in the background.

Once Polaris was directly behind her victim, she swiftly shoved Bunnymund into the water. Everyone dropped what they were doing and gaped at what she had done.

Bunny resurfaced, sputtering in shock. His eyes landed on Polaris, who was laughing hysterically; snorting loudly. He pulled himself out of the river and looked down, his whole body was multicolored with swirls and patterns; just like the eggs.

"Polaris! You really shouldn't have done that, mate." Bunnymund threatened as he scooped some of the water out in his cupped hands and flung it towards her. Polaris, predicting his move, ducked down, causing Bunny to splash Jack in the face instead. Toothy gasped in surprise glancing between Jack, Bunny, Polaris and back again.

"Oh, you've done it now." Jack grabbed a fistful of paint, a mischievous smirk plastered on his face. Both Bunny and Polaris sprinted away from the prank king.

North laughed heavily with his hands on his belly finding great joy in their shenanigans, Toothy tittered, and Sophie giggled as she stood by Santa and the Tooth Fairy out of the range of fire.

Polaris tripped on a rock in the tulip patch causing them to spray color all over her. Bunny saw the opportunity and took it; he grabbed Polaris, holding her in front of him, using her as a human shield.

Jack pelted her with globs of paint while he approached. Bunnymund, noticing that Jack was getting too close, forcefully shoved Polaris into him. They both immediately hurried after Bunny, now working together to get him.

Jack frosted some paint making them into snowball shaped colors and tossed them to Polaris, she whipped out her sling and twirled it above her head, then flicked it with such velocity, that it smacked into the back of Bunnymund's head, knocking him over.

They proceeded to pummel Bunny with more and more paint, laughing at his pathetic attempt to escape. Polaris was taken aback by a boomerang flying just inches from her face before it zipped back from where it was thrown from. Bunny wasn't there anymore.

Jack and Polaris looked around trying their best to spot him. In the distance they heard a loud thumping noise; it grew louder and louder. Coming from behind them was Bunnymund riding on top of his sentinel eggs. He howled with crazed laughter as he threw his exploding eggs at them; color burst all around them, making a sort of smoke screen.

"Ok, ok, enough of the rough housing." North announced walking in between Bunny, Polaris, and Jack. Polaris and Jack coughed after inhaling some of the dissipating dust. All three of them were covered head to toe in paint and laughed hysterically at how they looked.

Suddenly Polaris and Jack were drenched with color water. Polaris pouted; her hair that normally floated around was now straight down and dripping from the water. The Guardians looked up to see Toothy flying above them with a, now empty, bucket. Bunnymund howled with laughter until he was knocked down by North throwing a paint ball, nailing him in the face.

"Ha! I win again!" North shouted out with glee. Bunny grumbled as he stood from the ground. Polaris, Jack and Bunny proceeded to throw paint at North and Tooth; Toothy very easily dodged them and North used his scimitars to slice through them.

Jack grabbed Polaris' hand and ran for the sentinel eggs for cover. They crouched behind the large eggs and laughed from the excitement and fun. Polaris locked eyes with Jack for a moment and flushed, but it went unnoticed from the paint that covered her. Jack diverted his gaze feeling a bit nervous.

"There you two are!" North shouted as he nailed them both with even more paint. Jack tried his best to shield Polaris from the assault, but to no avail. North eventually ran out of ammo jolting the fight to a halt. Though disappointed by the sudden end to their fun it actually ended up being a good thing since paint was everywhere and the eggs still needed to be finished.

"That was fun!" Polaris exclaimed tiredly. The Guardians all agreed, cleaned up, and went to work painting the remainder of the eggs. Colors of blue, yellow and pink coated the small Easter eggs; swirls and patterns decorated them. There were millions of them and all of which were beautiful.

The striped elf from earlier walked past a Yeti, painting a mound of eggs red. Bunny hopped past him and noted the color with disdain, "Too Christmas-y, mate, paint `em blue." The Yeti threw his arms up in defeat and tossed the egg, now frustrated at having to repaint the large mound. Bunnymund wandered back over to Sophie.

"Oh, what's over there?" Bunny asked motioning to a beautifully decorated egg that was hiding in the grass. Sophie immediately spotted the egg and delicately lifted it out of its hiding place. She held it close to admire the intricate detail of its shell. Sophie brought the egg to Bunny for him to inspect.

"That's a beauty!" Bunny took Sophie by the hand and lead her through a stone archway. "Now all we gotta do is get him and his little mates through the tunnels, to the top, and we'll have ourselves Easter." He sighed, looking out proudly at the eggs gathering in front of the tunnels in the distance.

Jack approached them from behind and sat alongside Bunny, who held a worn out Sophie in his arms.

"Not bad." Jack pointed out. Sophie yawned and began to fall asleep. Bunny turned to Jack with a genuine smile.

"Not bad yourself." Bunnymund assured. He was glad that Jack was here. Jack had helped them out after all, even though Bunny hadn't given him any reason to. A twinge of guilt nagged his mind as he thought of how unfairly he had treated Jack.

"Look, I'm sorry about that whole, you know, the 'kangaroo' thing." Jack muttered embarrassed at how he had been towards the Guardians. After getting to know them better, Jack thought of them as his friends.

"It's the accent, isn't it?" Bunny chuckled. North came up from behind with Toothy and Polaris at his side. They turned toward Bunny, marveling at the sight of Sophie, fast sleep. It was touching. Bunny's face softened, as if remembering a distant memory, "Ah, poor little ankle-biter. Look at her, all tuckered out."

"I love her!" Toothy said quietly, afraid to wake her up. They looked up from the sleeping toddler toward Jack. He had taught them something. Something special about children that they wouldn't soon forget.

"I think it's time to get her home." Toothy stated as she bent down to pick her up. Bunny handed the sleeping Sophie over to her waiting arms.

"How about I take her home?" Jack suggested. The Guardians were surprised by this.

"Jack, no!" Toothy began to oppose, "Pitch is-"

"-no match for this." Jack finished, cutting her off. He twirled his staff as if to prove his point. He had defeated Pitch once already with his trusty staff he was sure he could do it again if he needed to.

"Which is why we need you here, with us." Bunnymund protested. The Guardians looked at Jack with concern. Polaris placed her hand on Jack's shoulder.

"Please Jack," She approached, "We need your help." Jack was surprised to hear those words, he had never been needed before, but he knew that he could return Sophie home safely without any problems. A slight blush crossed Polaris' face as she realized that she still had her hand on him; she withdrew it immediately.

"Trust me, I'll be quick as a bunny." Jack flashed a confident smile at them. The Guardians finally agreed, as there was still some work to be done before they could deliver the eggs anyway and Jack was gone.

"You never told me how absolutely gorgeous this place is, Bunny!" Toothianna squealed twirling around.

"Never had the words." He sighed contentedly, "Look at it! It's where it all begins, and just when you think it's over, it starts over again. I tell you, what's more beautiful than this?"

Bunny gestured to all around them and then continued, "And what brings more joy... than an Easter Egg?" By the time Bunny finished his sentiment, Polaris and North had joined the two of them overlooking the vast expanse of land.

"A Christmas gift?" North stated out loud. Bunny looked over his shoulder to glare at North.

"Or maybe a wish?" Polaris put in with a giggle earning a glare as well. Toothy giggled at their antics.

Bunny ignored them and looked around concerned. "Still no Frost."

"He will come" North assured them all. The Pooka eyed North with worry and suspicion, towards Jack, then back to all of the eggs they helped paint.

"Easter can't wait."

Jack had been gone for awhile now and the Guardians were starting to worry. What if something had happened to him, but before they could worry for much longer, black sand slowly seeped through the earth all around them.

Polaris' eyes widened with fear. All of the Guardians readied their weapons and looked around trying to spot Pitch, but he was no where to be seen.

The Nightmares took form and snorted aggressively. They were everywhere and were closing in on the them rapidly. The Guardians were horribly out numbered and were already really weak from Sandy's death which caused the majority of the lights to go out.

Polaris understood immediately that she would have to fight most of them off herself. She had never truly been believed in before, so the vanishing lights hadn't affected her. She was terrified though. What if another of her friends died? There is no way she could handle it. What if she died? The thought paralyzed her.

Her lips trembled as she took a subconscious step backwards. She bumped into North's belly and looked up at him. North smiled down at her reassuringly and that was all it took to get her out of her frozen state of mind. She breathed out her fear; she was ready.

The Nightmares stared them down, stood on their hind legs, and whinnied fiercely; then they charged.

**A/N: Next chapter will have the epic battle to protect Easter, hope you stick around to read it. Also please review and let me know what needs to be fixed. My sister _nicolemtracy_ also has an amazing Hey Arnold story called _Tattered Ribbon_, I highly suggest you read it, but I would say it is for older readers. It does have a lot of language and a lemon scene, so you have been warned.**

**~Jessica**


End file.
